What is the difference between Sainik school and Military school?

Can the children of non-Armed Forces join these schools?

Yes, non-armed forces students can also apply for these schools. Sainik Schools come under the Ministry of Defence and the State Governments. Only boys are admitted for Standard VI and Standard IX after writing the Sainik School entrance exam. Each school has a quota for service personnel children, state domicile students, open quota for students from other states and union territories and to SC and ST groups.
What is the procedure of joining the children into these schools?

Age limit: for Standard VI: boys 10-12 years,for Standard IX: boys 13-15 years as of 31st of March that year.
Qualifying Entrance exams: The exams are based on the syllabus from the standard the students have completed, for instance, if you are applying for VI standarad, then the questions would be based on CBSE year V standard level.
Medical examination: There would be a medical examination based on the armed forces guidelines.
Fees: The fees would be based on what the Sainik School society decides, the fees would be lower based on scholarships for merit, for defence personnel children and for SC/ST candidates.

Is there any curriculum difference between Sainik school and Rashtriya military school?
Both schools prepare students with the aim that they can be suited for enrolment at the National Defence academies. The difference is that Sainik schools are open to civil candidates and the Rashtriya military school is for defence personnel only.


Which is best Sainik school or military school to join in?

There are 29 Sainik schools in the country. You can get the list from this link (http://www.sainikrimc.com/sainik-schools-list.php). Most schools have their websites. For instance, Sainik School Kazhakootam (https://www.sainikschooltvm.nic.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=124&Itemid=130). You can get further information for the school sites. The school in Kodagu, Karnataka can be gathered from (http://sainikschoolkodagu.edu.in/)

You can download and read the prospectus of one such school (https://www.sainikschooltvm.nic.in/images/documents/circulars/entrance/admission/aissee_prospetus_2019.pdf).

All India Sainik Schools Entrance Examination {AISSEE } will be conducted every year for boys for getting admission to these schools. Every year they will ask for applications from eligible candidates for admission. Students can apply online/offline. Then the eligible candidates will have to write the entrance test and qualified people will be given admission.
These schools were started in 1961. There are about 29 Sainik schools in India. These schools will be managed by Sainic schools Society, Ministry of Defence, India. These schools prepare students to get equipped with the knowledge so that they can become officers in the Defence Services. These schools impart quality education to the studies and make them good citizens of the country and more stress will be on extracurricular activities.
The details can be obtained from https://sainikschooladmission.in/index.html.
All these schools are good and the admission will be decided on the area to which the candidate belongs.
The aim of both Military schools and Sainik schools is the same and the curriculum will also be similar. But in military schools, only the children of defence department employees can get admitted. But the Sainik schools are open to all.

Sainik School and Military School both are basically for preparing the students for Indian Defence Services. Only difference is that in Sainik Schools some quota is available for civilian wards also. So to that extent the children of non armed forces parents can also apply in Sainik Schools. There are 29 Sainik Schools scattered in different states in our country and a few more are on the anvil. The idea of establishing so many Sainik Schools was to encourage people to enrol in the defence services.

For admissions to Sainik Schools there is all India entrance test known as AISSEE (All India Sainik Schools Entrance Exam) and it is conducted for admission of students for class VI and IX. The age eligibility of boys for class VI is 10 to 12 years while for class IX it is 13 to 15 years. The application and prospectus can be had by paying a registration charge of Rs 400 for General and Defence category while it is only RS 250 for the SC/ST category. The students will have to appear in a written examination followed by interview and medical test.

There is reservation of seats . 25% of the total seats are reserved for the children of defence personnels including ex-servicemen. Out of the remaining seats 2/3rd will be for the boys from the state where the respective Sainik School is located and 1/3rd will be for students from other state. The overall quota of SC and ST candidates is up to 15% and 7-1/2% respectively.

Sainik schools have similar curriculum and are affiliated to CBSE. Some agencies rate these Sainik schools based on various parameters and as per that some of the good ones can be suggested as at - Amaravathinagar, Ghorakhal, Balachadi, Imphal, Purulia, Korukonda and Bhubaneswar.

There exists a difference between the Sainik School and the Military School where as in the former one the students of civilian quota can also apply and on the basis of competence, a candidate may be selected but in the later case the students are the employees of the defence personnels.
There are altogether 29 sainik schools and each impart quality education to students and the main focus of these schools are to train the students for the defence services ultimately. These schools are attached to CBSE syllabus with the more emphasis of the personality development of the individuals. Morning starts from parades and physical exercises to make them physically alert.
The entry level of the students are made in class six and class nine and the age - level for the students of class six has been fixed within the bracket of 10-12 and for the class nine the same has been fixed within the age bracket of 13-15.
The students interested to have admission in the Sainik Schools need to qualify both written and oral tests as set by the management. However seats are reserved for the SC/ST aspirants having quotas of 15 percent and 7 1/2 percent respectively. Also 25 percent of the seats are reserved for the employees of defence personnels.